The $51 Dress Kate Wore En Route to Sister Pippa’s Wedding

We are all very familiar with the dress the Duchess of Cambridge opted to wear for her sister’s wedding (the one she wore to the ceremony, at least—we still have not been gifted with a single shot from the event’s reception): Kate wore a silk, extremely understated Alexander McQueen dress, which she paired with a matching fascinator.

It should not come as any great shock that this ensemble is not, however, what she actually wore when she arrived at the venue that morning. (The Daily Mail posits it is “unclear” why she chose to not come dressed in her wedding look, then seemingly answers its own question in the same sentence, concluding: “. . . it is likely she wanted to keep her wedding attire pristine and chose to travel in a more casual ensemble.”)

Video: Pippa’s Big Day: the Dress, the Photos, and More

Anyway, whether the rationale for her so-called “quick change” was mysterious or not, photos indicate the dress she arrived in was an . . . appealing $51 Zara floral-printed dress. The “floor-length shirt dress” was on sale in the summer of 2016. (Zara has long been a favorite retailer of the Duchess.)

Can you, though, just imagine if Kate had gone completely renegade and worn this Zara look to the wedding itself?!?!? It would have stolen all the day’s headlines (Meghan Markle who?) and—in the vein of Sharon Stone’s Gap turtleneck look at the Oscars—revolutionized wedding attire forever. Who needs all the formality and tradition, the dress would have said, a wedding should be about comfort and ease. Alas, that was not the case, and the floral Zara made way for the regal, traditional McQueen.